Return of The Crystal Empire
by WestRail642fan
Summary: An empire thought lost for a 1000 years returns, bringing an evil foe back with it. Join newly wed Princess Cadence as she unlocks both the past of the empire as well as her own while struggling to keep the empire from the hooves of its former tyrant ruler, Emperor Sombra.
1. Prologue

**Return of The Crystal Empire.**

Author's Note: While this story is part of my series that starts with My Little Pony: Origins and ending with The Purple Mare, this story can be considered as a stand alone story. As this story takes place at the begins of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 3, Twilight is still a unicorn. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and associated characters are copyright to Hasbro & Lauren Faust.

Enjoy.

 **Prologue.**

Long before the banishment of Nightmare Moon, in the frozen arctic, sat an empire. The empire was once home to The Crystal Dragons who had built the empire upon a goldmine of crystal, the dragons had died out over a millennia before the formation of Equestria, it was lost to the snow and ice until its ruins were discovered by the unicorn queen, Queen Aura Quartz and her pegasus husband, King Bloodstone and their surviving subjects just after the first Heaths Warming. They were trekking across the land after losing their home during the war with the Chaos Bringers. Queen Aura and King Bloodstone found the palace in ruins amongst the snow and ice, the young couple explored the palace as their subjects explored the surrounding houses for any signs of life. There was non.

The subjects, with the help of the royal couple, rebuilt the empire, naming it The Crystal Empire. Bloodstone carved a heart from a crystal block, Aura enchanted it with her magic and placed it at the base of the now elegant palace, the now named Crystal Ponies poured their love into the heart, it began to glow and spin, the streets began to glow a pale blue, the ponies turned crystalline. A shock wave blasted back the snow and the clouds into a ring around the empire. Auroras burst out the top of the palace, blasting away the snow clouds, allowing the blue sky to shine down, the resulting burst allowed grass to grow, allowing the ponies to grow crops and food. The Aurora filled the sky in a bright array of colours. Sparking the start of the first Crystal Fair.

In a far off city, there were two newly crowned young alicorns, one controlled the sun, her name was Celestia. Her younger sister controlled the moon and the night, her name was Luna. The two ruled together in peace and harmony.  
''Sister! Quick! Come here!" Luna shouted, looked out the window, Celestia ran to the window.  
Celestia saw auroras dancing across the sky. The two sisters tracked the auroras to the north horizon. They began to prepare an expedition to the north, in search of the source of the auroras, they both knew it wasn't natural auroras.

The two sisters and a small expedition party ventured north, using the aurora as a guide. They were caught in a blizzard but they trekked on until they came across The Crystal Empire. The two sisters and the party met Queen Aura Quartz and King Bloodstone who know dubbed themselves Empress Aura Quartz and Emperor Bloodstone, both the royals couple and the sisters signed a treaty, stating that The Crystal Empire and Equestria would remain peaceful with each other in exchange for trade of goods and knowledge.

A few years after the treaty, Aura and Bloodstone had a beautiful unicorn filly they called Aurora, she had her crystalling a few days later. The two ruled through a golden age of peace and harmony. One it was Aurora's time, she became Empress Aurora, she married an earth pony named Angelite, they too had a daughter, a pegasus named Amore. When Amore was only a teenager, her parents died, she became the youngest Empress in history, she took on a student named Sombra and married her childhood friend, Ruby Tember. They had a pegasus daughter named Mi Amore Cadenza. When Mi Amore Cadenza was only a few days old, Sombra started a revolution, he tried to kill Amore and her baby, they disappeared without a trace. He killed Ruby and proclaimed himself Emperor.

He put all his subjects into slavery and killed anyone who spoke against him. He hid the Crystal Heart in the tower at the top of the palace. When the two sisters heard about what he did, they prepared an army and marched on The Crystal Empire where a war broken out. The two sisters banished Sombra to the ice but not before he cursed the empire, making it fade away. The two sisters and their army returned to Canterlot, they had come to protect the empire but had caused its destruction.


	2. Ch1: It Returns

**Return of The Crystal Empire.**

 **Chapter One.**

 **It Returns.**

The howling wind deafened the sounds of pickaxes picking away at a thick layer of ice.  
''Tell me why we're laying railway tracks in this wasteland?'' A stallion shouted, trying to be heard over the hurricane force winds.  
''Ponies like to ski, Princess Celestia wanted us to build this line to the mountains in the north, she wants to build a ski resort there.'' A second stallion shouted back, picking away at the last piece of ice on the fifty meter section they were working on.  
''But why the arctic north? Doesn't she know the legends? Lost empire? Pony of shadow?'' The first stallion shouted back as the other ponies began to lay ballast.

As the ballast was laid, unknown to everypony, the ice began to crack slightly and a deep laugh echoed out but was drowned out by the wind.  
''Ok! Let's get the sleepers in place!'' Shouted the foreman, two stallions picked up a sleeper and placed it down, the impact of the sleeper hitting the ground made the ice crack even more by a few inches. The stallions then placed down the second sleeper, making the cracking ice worse from the impact. The cracking got worse as the sleepers were placed down in the section.  
''Put your backs into!'' The foreman shouted, ''Are you stallions or mice?!'' He barked.  
''Stallions!'' The crew shouted back and four stallions lifted a twenty five meter long section of rail off of a flatbed and laid it down on the sleepers before tying it down using rail spikes.

As the second length of rail was hammered down, the foreman noticed the cracked ice, they took of their mask, revealing to be a female unicorn named Radiant Hope.  
''Stop!'' She shouted, the crew stopped and noticed the cracking ice, ''Ok. tie the rails down, carefully.'' She said as the wind died down. The crew began to lay the third section of rail. The ice stopped cracking as the rail was tied down, allowing the crew to finish hammering the spikes in. The cracks in the ice began to glow light purple as the forth rail was placed down and tied down. Radiant Hope watched as a small shunting locomotive ran over the new section pushing flatbeds loaded with sleepers and rails.

The ice began to glow purple, Radiant noticed this, she then saw one of the crew about to start picking at the next section of ice, right above the purple glow.  
''No! Wait!'' She shouted but was too late, the pickaxe struck the ice, causing the ice to crack in a snowflake pattern that quickly spread out, crystal spikes pierced through the ice. The shunter back away, the crew and Radiant Hope scrambled onto the flatbed as the small diesel locomotive reversed away from the crystals as they began to rip the track up.  
''Sweet Celestia!'' Radiant said as a palace rose from the ice and roads in a snowflake pattern appeared. Building began to appear as the shunter got to safety. The snow and clouds disappeared, allowing everypony to see what had happened, an empire had rose from the ice.

''No way!'' Radiant shouted in surprise as they looked at the empire made of pure crystal, a large white palace was at the center, surrounding the palace where lots of buildings lining the roads. The shunter stopped near where the green grass met the arctic ice sheet.  
''Blizzard! Get us back to Equestria as fast as you can!'' Radiant shouted to the driver of the shunter. The diesel blew its horn and started reversing towards Equestria. The small train rattled along the icy rails, the ice ripped open and a figure of pure shadow flew out the ice and swarmed around them, the shadow had green eyes with red iris and purple mist escaping the sockets.

The shadow swoops down and knocked the flatbeds off the rails, breaking the coupling between them and the shunter, knocking the ponies onto the snow, the shadow swooped at three of the stallions, freezing them in solid black crystals before shattering them into pieces, the pieces pierce the shunter's shell and windows. Radiant charged up her horn.  
''Blizzard! Go back to Equestria! Get help!'' She shouted, the engine reversed as fast as it could. Radiant blasts a beam of light at the shadow figure, the beam goes through the shadow, the face of a unicorn appears from the shadow, it looks at Radiant Hope.  
''Hello my dear.'' The shadow growled before swooping at Radiant.

* * *

Two soldiers trotted up and down the Equestrian border gate at the border town of Snow Lake that sat between the city of Manehattan and the border.  
''Why do we patrol this border? It's just a wasteland out their.'' Grumbled one of the soldiers as they took their helmet off and wiped the sweat from their head.  
''It's Celestia's orders, ever since the Changeling attack on Canterlot, the princess has order more soldiers be stationed on the borders.'' The lieutenant said, walking towards the soldiers, they saluted the lieutenant.  
''At ease soldiers.'' The lieutenant calmly said, ''So, have you two spotted anything?'' They added.  
''No ma'am.'' The soldiers said.

The lieutenant was cut off by the sound of a train horn, the three ponies looked towards the wasteland and saw the shunter coming towards the border.  
''Open the gate!'' She shouted, the iron gate rose off the ground, allowing the shunter to pass through, it screeched to a stop, some of the soldiers gasped when they saw crystals embedded in it, Blizzard fell through the door, bleeding heavily.  
''What happened?'' The lieutenant said, catching Blizzard, who was now coughing up blood, he brought her ear to his blood soaked mouth and whispered something in her ear before dying.

''I-I-I've got to report this.'' She said, slowly walking to her office as medical ponies carried Blizzard's body away. The lieutenant locked her office door and sat down in her chair, removing her helmet and throwing it on the floor. She picked up the nameplate on her desk, 'Lt. Dusty Trail' was printed on it in black. Dusty looked at the plate before putting it back down, she opened her drawer and pulled out a quill and paper and wrote a message on the paper before folding the paper, she stood back up and walked to her office door, not bothering to put her helmet back on as she left her office and walked towards the military post office.

Dusty entered the MPO, and looked for the outgoing mail section. One of the MPO workers spotted her and saluted.  
''Morning ma'am.'' He said nervously, he was a unicorn. She smiled, calming him down.  
''I want you to send this to Canterlot as fast as you can.'' Dusty said, giving the mail clerk the letter, he took the letter, his horn lit up and in a flash, the letter disappeared.

The letter appeared on a desk of a pony, General Sky Blade, he noticed the letter and picked it up.  
''Hmm, Lt. Dusty Trail must be asking for more troops.'' He said, opening it up and reading it, his eyes widened, ''I've gotta tell the princess!'' He shouted, leaping from his office chair and running from his office and down the hall towards the throne room and break neck speed.

A white alicorn sat on a throne, going through a mountain of paperwork with Sky Blade threw open the doors.  
''Princess Celestia! News from northern Equestria ma'am!'' He shouted, getting her attention.  
''What is it General?'' She asked the stallion as he stood still, he took off his helmet.  
''We received a letter from Lt. Dusty Trail at the town of Snow Lake on the Equestrian border. They discovered something in the arctic.'' He said, shaking.  
''What did they discover?'' Celestia said, her voice filling with concern.  
''The Crystal Empire. It's returned.''

 **End of Chapter One.**


	3. Ch2: Gathering The Group

**Return of The Crystal Empire.**

 **Chapter Two.**

 **Gathering The Group.**

''The Crystal Empire. It's returned.'' Sky Blade said, Celestia was shocked by this news.  
''Sky Blade, get Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor at once.'' Celestia ordered the stallion.  
''Yes ma'am!'' He responded, the two guard that sat at the base of the Princess's throne followed the general out the throne room.  
Celestia grabbed a sheet of paper and a quill.  
''My dearest Twilight, you and your friends must come to Canterlot at once.''

* * *

Waves smashed against a beach as the summer sun was beating down on the west coast city of Los Albardas. On the beach, laying on a sunbed was a light pink alicorn, her wing tips were a light purple and she was wearing sunglasses, she was drinking an ice cold lemonade.  
''This is the life.'' She said, placing the glass on a nearby table, her husband trotted over, levitating two ice cream cones in his magical grasp.  
''Ok Cadence, i got you a ninety-nine with a flake and strawberry sauce.'' He said, sitting on the sunbed next to her.  
''Thank you Shining dear.'' Cadence said, gently taking the ice cream and began eating it. Shining nibbled her ear seductively.  
''Oh Shining~'' Cadence purred.

''Princess Cadence! Prince Shining Armor!'' A royal guard shouted, running up the beach to the young couple.  
''Greaaath...'' Cadence grumbled, ''Just getting to the good part...'' She grumbled some more.  
''What's wrong Lucas?'' Shining Armor asked, saluting the stallion.  
''Message from Princess Celestia, sir!'' Lucas replied, saluting back before giving Shining Armor the letter, Cadence looked over Shining's shoulder.  
''What does it say dear?'' Cadence asked, Shining then gave her the message, she it over, she gasped, ''We're needed in Canterlot at once!'' She said.

''Lucas, i want you to go to our hotel room and gather all our belongings and put them in our private railway carriage at the train station.'' Shining ordered Lucas.  
''Yes captain!... i mean yes Your majesty!'' Lucas said before running back along the beach and towards the hotel.  
''What do you think Celestia wants?'' Cadence asked as the two ran to towards the beachfront railway terminus.  
''I don't know, but whatever it is, it's big!'' Shining responded as the station building came into view.

They ran through the station and towards the private railway coach just as Lucas appeared dragging the suitcases with him, Cadence's horn lit up, she grabbed the suitcases and Lucas and put them in the coach before giving in herself, Shining followed close behind. The door shut behind him just as the train began to pull out the station.

* * *

''Quills quills quills?! Where are my quills?!'' A purple unicorn panicked, rummaging through drawers and raiding the cupboards of her home, the Golden Oak Library  
''Right here Twilight!'' A purple and green dragon spoke out, holding a pack of quills in his claws. The unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle took the quills and shoved them into her already full saddlebag, ''Your welcome.'' Spike grumbled.  
''Flashcards! I should make some flashcards!'' Twilight shouted, Spike rolled his eyes, packing his and Twilight's belongings, ''Oooh maybe i should make a friendship lesson report!'' The mare added, Spike facepalmed.

''Twilight! How do you know that this is a test? It could be that Celestia just want us to help her plan a social event.'' Spike put simply, Twilight looked at him, ''I know i know, 'Why would the Princess want us to help plan an event when she has ponies for that?' To be honest, the royal event planners are a bit... incompetent.'' He added, Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at that remark about the incompetence of the royal event planners.  
''I understand what your saying Spike but we can't risk that and be unprepared.'' Twilight said with concern, Spike sighed and rolled his eyes, Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike and embraced him in a hug, ''I'm sure it's just a routine exam, but why ask for our friends to join too.'' She added.

''It's a mystery to me Twilight.'' Spike said, picking up one of the open books of the floor, he flipped it over and looked at the page.  
''It's not a mystery! It's the plot!'' A pink earth pony shouted, literally leaping out the page.  
''Ah! Pinkie!'' Spike screamed, throwing the book away from himself.  
''Hey Twilight!'' The energetic pink pony simply smiled as Spike fearfully picked the book back up and walking down the stairs and towards the library level of the Golden Oak.  
''Pinkie!?'' Twilight screamed, the element of magic was started by the sudden appearance of the element of laughter.

Spike walked over to one of the bookshelves around the library and placed the book back in the correct place, as he was about to go back upstairs, he heard a knock at the door.  
''I'll get it!'' He shouted up, ''Ok!'' he heard Twilight shout back. Spike approached the door and opened and saw he and Twilight's four other friends, a white unicorn named Rarity, an orange earth pony named Applejack, two Pegasus, a blue one called Rainbow Dash and a yellow one called Fluttershy.  
''Hey girls, Twilight's upstairs, come in.'' Spike said, opening the door wider.

''So, Spike, what does the Princess need us for?'' Rarity asked, Spike shrugged.  
''Twilight seems to think it's a test, i think she's exaggerating on that. I mean it could be as something as simple as event planning.'' He replied, Rarity chuckled  
''Thats our Twilight.'' Applejack replied. Rainbow, Fluttershy and Spike chuckled.  
''Twilight! The girls are here!'' Spike shouted again. Trotting was heard as Twilight and Pinkie came down the stairs.  
''Morning girls.'' Twilight said, they smiled at her, ''Ready to go?'' She added, they nodded, Twilight's saddlebags ripped open, spilling their contents across the floor.

''Twilight, do you really need all that? Isn't that a little excessive?'' Rarity asked, everypony just looked at her.  
''Say's the one who brought a scarf to stop a dragon from sleeping in Equestria.'' Rainbow rolled her eyes, Rarity blushed as Applejack and Fluttershy put some of Twilight's items into there saddlebag to lower the load on her, Rarity quickly did a patch job on Twilight's saddlebags  
''Remind me to do a proper repair on them when we get back.'' Rarity asked Twilight, Spike quickly wrote that down for Twilight in her journal. They then left the treehouse home and walked towards the train station.

It was only a short walk through town to the train station, the girls simply talked on the way, one part of the conversation was about favorite candies and cakes, another part was about which gemstone was the prettiest and favorite in their opinions.  
''Sapphires are my favorite gemstone, if i have a daughter i'm naming her that.'' Rainbow said, getting a d'awww from the others, they stepped up into the station building.  
''Seven tickets to Canterlot please.'' Twilight asked the ticket master.  
''That'll be seven bits please.'' The ticket master replied, Twilight placed seven gold coins on the desk and grabbed the tickets with her magic.

The group stepped out on the platform used for Canterlot bound traffic, the station was empty, not uncommon for this time of year but still unsettling.  
''Once with done what ever Celestia is asking of us, i'm gonna go shopping in the city.'' Rarity said, ''I need some new fabrics for the boutique anyway, so why not get them while i'm there?'' She added as the train pulled it. It was a black tank engine pulling three maroon coaches.  
''All aboard for Canterlot!'' The guard shouted as a few ponies disembarked. The group quickly got aboard and sat down in one of the compartment.  
''I've got to admit, it was nice of the humans to give Equestria some of their technology all those years ago.'' Twilight said, getting comfortable on the blue seats.  
''It sure is amazing, isn't it?'' Applejack replied, looking around the carriage as the train carefully departed Ponyville.

Twilight pulled out a book from her saddlebag and flicked through the pages.  
''According to this book, this carriage is called a 'British Railways Mark 1'.'' Twilight read aloud as the train crossed over a small bridge crossing the stream that ran through the town.

* * *

''Are you sure you don't want me to go with them my sister?'' Asked a blue alicorn, her name was Luna, she looked at a stained glass window in the throne room.  
''Yes, i'm sure that they will not fail in this task.'' Replied a white alicorn, her name was Celestia.  
''The Crystal Empire's magic is powerful, it can't fall again, not now.'' Luna replied  
''I promise you Luna, it won't. I know the lose of the empire hit you the most but i promise, it will not fall again my sister.'' Celestia responded, wrapping a wing around her younger sister.

''Your highness! Twilight Sparkle and her friends are here!'' General Sky Blade announced, ''Shall i send them in?'' He asked.  
''Yes. Send them in General.'' Celestia responded, Sky Blade saluted and went to get them, ''Trust me Lulu.'' She added, looking at Luna.  
''If you say so Tia. If you need me, i'll be in my chamber.'' Luna said, walking out the throne room, she smiled at Twilight and her friends as they walked past her.

''You wanted to see us princess?'' Twilight said, bowing before Princess Celestia.  
''Twilight my dear, no need to bow to me every time we meet.'' Celestia smiled, Twilight quickly stood back up.  
''Sorry we're late!'' Cadence shouted, she and Shining ran into the throne room.  
''No need to be sorry, you're on time my dear niece.'' The Princess of the sun replied, Lucas appeared in the hallway outside the throne room, he saluted General Sky Blade.

''You may be wondering why i called you all here. Well there is no easy way to say this, but... The Crystal Empire has returned!'' Celestia said, the room fell quiet Twilight's jaw dropped.  
''The Crystal Empire? You mean its real! But its just a myth!'' Twilight said, breaking the silence. The only sound afterwards was the sound of her saddlebag ripping open again.  
''Yes, The Crystal Empire is real.'' Celestia said, she brought forth a crystal and placed it on the floor, her horn lit up and the crystal began to glow, all of a sudden a hologram of a city appeared where the crystal was, a bright flash revealed a large white and blue palace at the center of the city.

''One thousand years ago, Sombra, a unicorn, whose heart was as black as night, took over The Crystal Empire.'' As Celestia said this, the palace at the center began to become black and burnt, ''He forced the citizen to be his slaves and mine crystals for him. He was ultimately defeat by me and Luna, using the Elements of Harmony. He was striped of his physical body and turned to shadow and banished to the ice of the Arctic North. Unfortunately, he placed on the Empire and caused to be lost to time.'' Celestia finished up with the hologram retreating back into the crystal which she levitated above her.

''If the Empire is filled with hope and love.'' She said, pointing her horn at the crystal and thinking of happy memories, it began to spark and reflect bright colours around the room. ''Then these feelings are reflected across Equestria and beyond.'' Her eyes began to emit purple mist and began to glow green, her yellow hue of magic turned black, ''It hatred and fear take hold.'' She said as the crystal turned black, a shadow grew across the floor, more black crystal appeared that in turn made more shadows that also turned to black crystals which encaged the group. Celestia quickly though of a happy memory and used it to destroy the crystals, ''This is why i need your help in finding a way to protect the empire.'' Celestia added, placing the crystal back beside her throne.

''But what if we fail?'' Cadence responded, the grouped nodded and her question, Celestia smiled.  
''You won't, you know you will find a way to protect it.'' Celestia replied, ''Now, quickly, get to the empire!'' She added, the group nodded and ran out the room, ''Twilight, can i speak to you for a moment.'' Celestia spoke up.  
''Don't worry Twily, we'll meet you outside.'' Shining Armor said, Twilight smiled at her BBBFF, she turned to Celestia.  
''Yes Princess?'' She asked, approaching her mentor, Celestia waited until everyone else left the room.

''Twilight, what i'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room, i'm i clear?'' The princess asked, looking at her prized pupil.  
''Crystal clear.'' Twilight said, chuckling at her bad pun, Celestia chuckled.  
''There is something about Cadence you must know.'' Celestia replied, moving closer to the purple unicorn.  
''What is it Princess?'' Twilight asked, Celestia whispered something in her ear, Twilight gasped.  
''You serious?'' Twilight asked in a mixture of shock and confusion, Celestia nodded.  
''I am my dearest Twilight, now go and get to the empire!'' Celestia ordered. Twilight ran out the room, ''I won't let you down!'' Celestia heard her shouted.

''You are one step closer my dear Twilight.'' Celestia whispered before looking around before her horn lit up, in a flash, a statue appeared, it was draconequus, frozen in terror. Her horn lit up again and the statue cracked open.  
''Ahh!'' The draconequus screamed before looking around, it saw Celestia, ''Oh, its sun butt.'' It added, she smiled, ''What do you want Celestia?'' It asked.  
''A game of chess, 2 out of 3, what do you say Discord?'' Celestia asked, Discord rolled his eyes.  
''Fine.''

* * *

It took some time, but the group finally made it to the Arctic North, they boarded a work train at Snow Lake and used it to get to the Empire.  
''Lets just hope you aren't too late.'' Twilight said as the wind roared and howled outside.  
''Don't worry Twily.'' Shining Armor said, sitting down next to his sister, ''I'm sure Sombra hasn't returned, making our job easier.'' He added, Twilight cracked a smiled.  
''I think we're here.'' Spike said, looking out the window and seeing grass. The train stopped sharply, the group got out and the train quickly sped away. They looked at the site before them with awe  
''Sweet Celestia!'' Rarity said, breaking the silence, they looked upon the Crystal Empire and gasped.

A roar was heard behind them, they turned to see a pony of shadows charging at them.  
''Quick! Get inside!'' Shining shouted, his horn sparked up as a purple shield began to engulf the Empire.

 **End of Chapter Two.**


	4. Ch3: Meeting The Crystal Ponies

**Return of The Crystal Empire.**

 **Chapter Three.**

 **Meeting The Crystal Ponies.**

The purple shield engulfed the Empire, the pony of shadows hit the shield as hard as possible, growling in the process, the shield was now fully encasing the Empire.  
''Is everyone ok?'' Cadence got up off the ground, everyone groaned and slowly got up, blood was dripping down the side of Spike's face, ''Spike! Your bleeding!'' The alicorn shouted with concern, Spike looked at her, confused. He raised a claw to his face and wiped some of the blood off, he looked at his now blood covered claw.  
''That's not mine.'' He looked at the others, a drop of blood landed on his head. He looked up and screamed in horror, he fell to the ground and scurried away away. There, hanging above the group were ten soldiers, nine of them were impaled on towering crystal spikes while only one was disembowel and hanging by the intestines from one of the spikes.

Rarity and Fluttershy both fainted, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Twilight vomited, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor and Cadence turned away, trying to hide the horror on their faces.  
''Come on everyone, let's look around.'' Cadence said, her horn lit up, two large blankets appear, she covers the ten soldiers with them.

The group left the spikes behind and trekked towards the center of the city. Fluttershy and Rarity were carried by Twilight and Applejack. Rainbow and Cadence began flying above the group, scouting and mapping out the city. Cadence was sketching out the city on a large sheet of paper, noting that the city was laid out in a snow flake pattern.  
''Look! Down there!'' Rainbow shouted, spotting a large, elegant palace below them, Cadence looked down and nodded, folding the paper and landing on the balcony of the building, Rainbow landed beside her. The high winds nearly knocking the two of balance as the others soon joined them.

The purple shield was casting the city in a slightly purple light. Twilight was struck in awe at the view below them, the wind was blowing through Twilight's mane and tail.  
''In all the years I've lived in Canterlot, I've never seen a view like this.'' She said, the breeze was cold against her fur.  
''I've seen view like this... once.'' Cadence looked at Twilight, ''Back when I lived in Port Hope, back when I was a pegasus. Every December 21st, the water in the bay would freeze over and sparkle when the sun rose.'' The alicorn spoke out to no one in particular, the wind rushing through her feathers.  
''What are you talking about?'' Twilight asked, looking straight at Cadence, the unicorn raised her eyebrow.  
''Nothing.'' Cadence replied, waving her hoof around in the air, Twilight shrugged and continued looking at the city, she noticed that the entire city was ringed with a mountain range.

Rarity and Fluttershy soon regained consciousness, Rarity was struck in awe when she saw the palace, Fluttershy tremble when she noticed how high off the ground she was. Cadence looked down at the base of the palace, something caught her eye, she took out a pair of binoculars from her saddle bag and looked through them, she saw what looked like ponies.  
''Guys! I think I found something!'' She shouted, the others quickly ran over and looked down at the ground, Twilight pulled out a pair of her own binoculars and looked at the at what ever it was that Cadence saw.  
''I think you found the Crystal Ponies!'' Twilight declared, the others were surprised, they all quickly made their way down to the base.

* * *

The group were soon back at ground level as ponies weakly began to walk around. Twilight and Cadence both noticed that the Crystal Ponies coats were all dull, there manes and tails were just as dull and drooped, the tails being dragged along the ground behind them. One of the ponies, a mare, was walking very weakly and fell over, Cadence ran to her aid and helped her up.  
''Are you ok miss?'' Cadence asked, the mare looked up at the alicorn and nodded slowly.  
''...I...think so...'' The mare said, not sure where she was, Cadence looked at Twilight with concern. The mare walked over, leaving the two alone.  
''I think Sombra's curse is the reason why the their coats aren't crystally.'' Twilight said, Cadence watched the crystal pony slowly walk away.

Shining looked up at his shield spell, he felt a headache coming.  
''How are we going to protect the Empire without the use of my magic.'' He asked, Twilight looked at him, ''My spell won't last forever.'' He added as he began to feel pain in his head.  
''That's why we're here.'' Twilight replied, ''Why we're all here.'' AJ added, looking at Twilight and smiled.  
''The crystal ponies have just woken up it seems.'' Cadence added, walking over to her husband and her sister in-law.  
''But we have to believe one of them knows how we can protect the Empire without the use of a shield spell.'' Shining replied, looking at his wife and her sister. Twilight got an idea.

''Why not ask them?'' Twilight said, the others looked at her confused.  
''How are we going to do that? Have you seen how big the Empire is!?'' Rainbow shouted, startling a nearby Crystal pony.  
''We split up and go to different areas off the Empire and ask as many Crystal ponies as we can. Meet back here in a few hours.'' Twilight explained her plan, the others nodded in agreement before trotting off. Twilight and Spike went to cover the business district, Rarity went to cover the fashion district, Applejack and Fluttershy both went to cover the farm district, Rainbow went to cover the apartment buildings, Pinkie went to cover the food district and Cadence went to look around the palace and hope to find any of the palace staff, Shining followed her.

* * *

''Are you sure? Absolutely sure?'' Twilight asked a Crystal mare, the only thing that her and Spike got from the mare was that her name was Sapphire Joy.  
''I'm sorry. I wish I could help you. But I... can't seem to remember anything before Emperor Sombra came to power.'' Sapphire said before getting a flashback of the terrors that Emperor Sombra had brought to the once peaceful Empire. ''And I don't want to remember anything about the time he ruled over us.'' She shuddered, Twilight was concerned, ''Have we really been gone a thousand years?'' Sapphire replied.  
''Yes.'' Spike answered Sapphire's question, she looked at the young dragon, this was her first time seeing a dragon up close.  
''It feels like it was just yesterday.'' Sapphire said, looking down, knowing that her and all the other Crystal ponies had lost a thousand years.

''If you think of anything, even the smallest thing...'' Twilight said before being interrupted by Sapphire Joy.  
''Of course.'' Sapphire said, weakly smiling at the two as they walked away.  
''Well, that was a total bust.'' Spike groaned, that was the fiftieth pony today who they asked and still got nothing, ''I'm beginning to believe that they may of had their memories wiped by mister shadow pony.'' He added, Twilight chuckled at the last statement.  
''Maybe the others are having better luck.'' Twilight sighed, walking towards the next office building.

''A way to protect the Empire! You know anything about it or what?'' Rainbow Dash barked at a mare named Fleur De Verre.  
''I wish I could help you. Really.'' Fleur replied, slowly continuing walking, Rainbow flew in front of her, starting the poor mare.  
''Hold on! You gotta know something!'' Rainbow shouted again, Fleur covered her ears, blocking the shout out.  
''But... I don't have any information.'' Fleur said before walking off, Rainbow growled and kicked the ground.  
''Well this isn't going well.'' She gritted her teeth, she kicked the ground again in anger.

Applejack and Fluttershy were walking through the shopping district, they hadn't had any luck with the farm district and were on there way back to the palace and decided to ask any ponies who were in the shopping district. Fluttershy approached two ponies who was at a table, resting their heads on it, they weakly looked at Fluttershy.  
''Oh, um. Excuse me! Oh! Hello! Umm, I was just wondering.'' Fluttershy said, not quite sure what to say to them, she was about to slam her hoof on the table when AJ called her over, ''Oh, oh, that's okay, um, you all look really busy.'' She said, laughing nervously and quickly walking over to AJ  
''Do you know anything?'' AJ asked a Crystal pony, the pony looked at her and put a hoof to its chin.

''There might be something in the library, although i'm not sure if anything remained, Emperor Sombra had most of the books burned in fear that we would use the history books to overthrow him.'' The pony said, weakly placing their hoof back down, A smiled, they finally got an answer, although not the answer they wanted, but it was a good start.  
''Do you know where we can find the library?'' Fluttershy quietly asked the pony, AJ was about to ask the same thing.  
''It's in the Crystal Plaza, just next to the palace. Although i can't remember which building. Hope this helps.'' The pony said AJ and Fluttershy quickly ran towards the palace.

''Time to gather some intel!'' Pinkie said, appearing behind a lamp post, she put on a spy outfit and quickly and quietly ran behind two Crystal ponies.  
''It just feels like something is missing.'' The mare said, looking at the palace, it sparkled in the purple light from the shield, she looked at the stallion named Night Knight.  
''I know. It looks the same, but it doesn't feel the same.'' Night said, he too was looking at the palace, he then looked at the mare named Elbow Grease.  
''Because it isn't!'' Pinkie said, hanging upside down above them, the two were started but the sudden appearance of the pink mare.  
''A spy!'' Elbow gasped before running away with Night in tow. The rope holding Pinkie up snapped, causing her to fall to the ground, landing on her face.  
''A spy? How did they know? Ah! Must have noticed my night vision goggles.'' Pinkie said, putting on a pair of goggles on, ''Ooh! Night vision-y!'' She said before running face first into a building.

''Hm-hm-hmmm. And when you flip your mane, it simply must create a rainbow of color. Oh! Wouldn't I look just magnificent? So sparkly!'' Rarity said, she was imagining herself as a Crystal pony, her sparkling mane, her shiny coat. She was playing with her mane and spinning around, some of the Crystal ponies around her quickly backed away from her.

Cadence was walking out the palace, she hadn't got anything information as well, she had bumped into the mare she helped earlier, she had found out that the mare's name was Arctic Lily. Cadence was deep in thought, while she was looking for ponies, she came across a statue of a pegasus with the name 'Amore' in a gold plaque.  
''Once i get some time, i see if i can find a library and research this 'Amore'.'' She said as she left the palace and waited for the others to return.

* * *

''I've got nothing so far!'' Rainbow shouted to the group as they regathered at the base of the palace. Cadence was trying to keep her calm, but to little effect.  
''Oh! Me neither.'' Rarity said, distracted by her mane, she was brushing it with one of her many, many mane brushes. Twilight saw Fluttershy appear, but before Twilight could ask her, Fluttershy opened up, revealing to be Pinkie Pie in a costume.  
''My cover has been blown. I repeat, my cover has been blown!'' Pinkie said, Twilight backed away from her. The real Fluttershy appeared with AJ.  
''Sorry, Twilight. These crystal ponies seem to have some kind of collective amnesia or something. Only thing we was able to get out of them was something about a library.'' AJ said, Twilight's eyes widened with glee.

''A library? Well, why didn't you say so?!'' Twilight said, grabbing AJ close to her, AJ's ears fell flat against her head in surprise.  
''Uh... thought I just did.'' Was AJ's only response, Twilight was hopping around like a filly with a new toy, ''One small problem, we don't know where it is.'' She added, Twilight stopped mid hop and looked at AJ  
''Found it!" Pinkie's voice echoed from a nearby building, her head pokes out from the building's door. The group quickly ran over to the building with a large sign marked;

'Grand Imperial Library'

 **End of Chapter Three.**


	5. Ch4: The Grand Imperial Library

**Return of The Crystal Empire.**

 **Chapter Four.**

 **The Grand Imperial Library.**

The group ran up to the door, despite the fact that Pinkie was able to open the doors with no effort, the others found the doors to be stiff. Cadence and Rainbow forced the doors open. Dust felled the air as the doors swung open, Cadence and Rainbow landed on the floor in a heap, the alicorn and pegasus chuckled as they stood back up. They quickly stopped and gasped at the sight before them.  
''What happened?'' Twilight gasped, she looked at the sight before, she had expected it to be a clean and tidy place but she wasn't prepared for this.  
''I believe this is Sombra's doing.'' Rarity said, she was also shocked.

The once grand library of an even grander empire was now decaying, dust and cobwebs filled the shelves. Twilight stepped forward, broken glass cracked under the unicorn's hooves. Fallen statue rested at against the floor, the ends that had hit the floor were crushed and shattered. A crystal chandelier had broken free from the ceiling and had crashed to the floor, crushing a table under its weight, the chain that held it to the ceiling was resting on the floor a few metres away, the link was clearly seen to of be snapped. The candles once on the chandelier had broken free and rested around it, some were clustered together, others were alone. Twilight was left speechless.  
''Come on everyone, let's find something to help the Empire.'' AJ said, breaking the silence. The group went around the library looking for anything that survived Sombra's purge.

* * *

Rainbow flew to one of the highest shelves and swept through the remaining books on the shelf, she picked up a book and looked at the title.  
''Well, 'Crystals 101'. Nope.'' She threw the book away, ''How about this? 'How to polish crystals'. Nope.'' She threw that book away as well, ''How to improve your writing skills.'' She looked left and right and quickly put the book into her saddlebag before going back to looking for a book about the Empire and its history, she was unable to find one.  
''This is hopeless.'' She groaned, hitting her head on the shelf, making it collapse, she quickly backed away.

AJ lifted up one of the shelves and pushed it to one side, she knelt down and looked at the few books on the floor.  
''Let's see, 'How to carve from a crystal block'. No.'' AJ, moved the book to the side, '' We have 'How crystals are formed'. Nope. '' AJ added, ''Oh horse apples, this isn;t going at all well. I just hope to Celestia that everypony else are having better luck than me.'' She said, sighing deeply, she looked down, ''I don't think we can do this. I don't think i can do this.'' She thought.

Pinkie hopped from shelve to shelve, bouncing on her tall to get to the higher shelves, seemingly defying the laws of gravity, she looked at a book and read its title.  
''Bird calls. Nope.'' She giggled, throwing to away from her, ''Stained glass repairs. Nope again.'' She giggled again, the booking dropped to the book and bounced to the next set of shelves, ''I hope we get to throw a huge, mega, super party in this empire once we're doing saving it!'' The bubbly mare said to herself as she continued looking through the books.

Fluttershy slowly made her way through the piles of rubble on the floor, finding a book while being scared of flying was hard to the butter yellow mare.  
''Oh dear, there doesn't seem to be any books...'' She said before seeing to books amongst the rubble, she trotted over to the books and pulled them free, the rubble fell, covering Fluttershy in dust, she coughed heavily. She looked at the books and read the titles.  
''How farm in the Empire and Crystal berry picking.'' She sighed as she looked at the wrong books, ''This isn't going as nearly well as i thought it would.'' She sighed again.

Rarity trotted through one of the wings of the building, she looked at the shelves along her right side, most of the books had lost the covers and were covered in dust.  
''Ooh! Fashion books!'' She screamed in delight, picking up one in her magical grasp, ''Oh! Another one!'' She added, picking that one up too, she then saw another one, and then another and another. Soon she had and large pile of fashion books behind her.  
''Welp. No history books but i'm taking all these books home with me.'' She said, looking at the pile.

Cadence walked through the library, she was looking for not only a history book, but a book about Empress Amore, if there was any that survived the purge. She continued the search, she came across a boarded up doorway, her horn lit up as she pulled the boards off the door. Cadence looked at the door and approached it, twisting the door handle, causing the door to creak open. Air rushed in through the door as it slowly opened, the rush of air caused a chill to run into Cadence's core as if she had been out in a blizzard. She slowly walked through the open door and down some steps. The door slowly closed behind her without a sound.

Twilight and Spike slowly walked through the crumbling library, a buckled shelf rested on the floor, broken down the middle, the lower half was on the floor, the upper half was at an angle and resting against the wall, Twilight climbed up onto the overturned shelf, pulling Spike up, the lavender unicorn sighed.  
''Twilight, what's wrong?'' The young drake asked with concern filling his voice, he looked straight at her.  
''It's nothing Spike, just tired.'' She said, smiling, Spike rolls his eyes, ''Let's find a history book.'' She said, the dragon shrugged and went to look through the remaining books.

Twilight dug through the books, most of them were biology books or fairy tales.  
''This is hopeless!'' She said, throwing the books to the dusty floor, she coughed as the dust flew everywhere.  
''Twilight! I found a history book!'' Spike shouted, Twilight ran over as he pulled it off the shelf, she looked at the worn out title

'History of The Crystal Empire.'

 **End of Chapter Four.**


End file.
